Assange loses extradition appeal

London: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has lost his appeal against extradition to Sweden to answer sex crime allegations. Judges John Thomas and Duncan Ousely said that Mr. Assange, who was in court to hear the verdict, should be sent to Sweden to be questioned over the alleged rape of one woman and the molestation of another in Stockholm last year.The judge’s extradiction verdict could put the very future of Wikileaks website at stake.

Swedish authorities want to question Mr. Assange over the alleged rape of one woman and the molestation of another in Stockholm last year. The 40-year-old has denied wrongdoing, and insists the case is politically motivated by those opposed to the work of his secret-spilling organisation. It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Assange, who has spent much of the past year under virtual house arrest at a supporter’s country estate, would have the right to take his appeal to Britain’s Supreme Court.

Legal experts had earlier predicted that Britain’s High Court will rule in favour of extraditing Mr Assange, who has spent much of the past year under virtual house arrest at a supporter’s country estate. “Very, very few people defeat a European Arrest Warrant,” said Julian Knowles, an extradition lawyer at London’s Matrix Chambers who has been following the case. “The courts in England generally lean in favor of extradition.”